PETER CAREY EXERCISES FOR AUGUST 2024
EXERCISE #1 - CAREY SIMILES
Peter Carey is an avid and adept user of the simile. Below are three Carey similes, with the simile section left out.
Read and complete the line with your own simile. Be as imaginative as you like. At the end of this are the completed Carey similes. Compare them with yours or use them for inspiration. Can you improve on Carey's offerings?
The hair...that frizzy nest which grew outwards, horizontal like
He were still smiling but his voice were hard as
A cormorant broke the surface, like
The hair...that frizzy nest which grew outwards, horizontal like a wind-blown tree in an Italianate painting.
He were still smiling but his voice were hard as a spoon rattling in a metal cup.
A cormorant broke the surface, like an improbable idea tearing the membrane between dreams and life.
EXERCISE #2 - COLLECTING NAMES
Thinking of names for characters, places, shops, restaurants, and so on in your writing can be both difficult and fun. A name can offer the reader an immediate impression of a character or place.
Collect interesting names here: people you meet, places you visit, towns you read in the newspaper, nicknames, pet names...record your favorites.
EXERCISE #3 - CHILDHOOD ROOM
Think of a room from your childhood home. Close your eyes and visualize the room. Think about the look of it, the sound of it, and, if smoke from your granddad's pipe drifted into your bedroom, perhaps the smell of it. Write a description of the room.
EXERCISE #4 - DIALOGUE WITH HISTORY
Look up an event that happened in the decades listed below. Place yourself in the year of the event and imagine yourself either in a crowd of people, somebody's house, or somewhere else, speaking to somebody. Try to convey a sense of the time. Does the decade or placement of the event change the way the person speaks? Write a short piece of dialogue next to each decade.
1690s
1870s
1910s
1980s